Tracing The Roots Of A Grand Lady: The Statue Of Liberty

May 04, 1986|By Helmut Koenig.

In a way, Miss Liberty could be considered the mystery lady of New York City, playing a role similar to the one ``Mona Lisa`` (with her enigmatic smile) performs on the Paris scene, or that of Berlin`s antiquarian dazzler Queen Nefertiti.

But those girls spend their days and nights tucked away behind glass, locked up safe and sound, protected by elaborate security systems.

Liberty, on the other hand, is out in the open, on her own--on a pedestal, it`s true, but still exposed to the elements around the clock, vulnerable to pollution and weather, wind whistling around her ears, birds nesting in her crown, generations of the curious traipsing up and down her insides.

No wonder that she should suffer from metal fatigue (among other ailments) after a century of holding down the fort, carrying a torch for wave after wave of immigrants making their way to the New World after hearing her siren song--``Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses . . . I lift my lamp beside the golden door``--as though any invitation were necessary.

After decades of such activity, any lady would be entitled to a facelift, a fresh coat of paint, have a few tucks taken here and there and get a re-wiring job. In this case, however, in addition to cosmetic surgery, the situation called for major internal restructuring, including up-dating the skeleton designed by Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower. Also on the agenda: a brand new torch. All to the tune of millions--$230 million, to be exact. To be paid for by the private sector. Fortunately, with a foundation raising the cash, contributions keep pouring in.

For months Our Lady of the Harbor has been hidden away behind a web of scaffolding while workmen imported from her native France put the finishing touches to the rejuvenation and Mayor Ed Koch prepares the Big Apple for Liberty`s coming-out party.

Liberty Weekend `86 will be highlighted by the statue`s ``unveiling`` and relighting-the-torch ceremonies July 3d, followed by Op Sail, a parade of tall ships and other festivities.

The birthday bash is on Oct. 28, 1986, 100 years to the day after the original dedication ceremonies (President Grover Cleveland presiding) when Alsacian sculptor Auguste Bartholdi`s 151-foot statue ``Liberty Enlightening the World`` came out from under the wraps of a gigantic tricolor, a gift from France to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the work continues. To reach beyond the hype associated with the re-emergence of this national treasure and to get the true story of how the statue got to be the way it is, I journeyed to the source--back to the roots, so to speak--to examine the Lady`s background and her legend. Consider this a footnote to the upcoming spectacle.

First stop: Paris, where Liberty was put together and then taken apart again, packed in more than 200 crates and transported by train to Rouen, then shipped trans-Atlantic to New York, where she would be reassembled and mounted on her pedestal.

Then I went to Colmar, in Alsace, birthplace of the man who dreamed up the idea, and spent 20 years on the project. Today, the 18th-Century Bartholdi townhouse is a fascinating museum devoted to the Statue of Liberty and other works by this sculptor.

In Paris, the Liberty route leads to a narrow island in the Seine--Ile des Cygnes--where a replica of the Statue of Liberty looks downriver.

Bateaux-mouches (small sightseeing boats) make their final turn around the statue, and most visitors to the City of Lights get to see this version of Bartholdi`s chef-d`oeuvre.

Another statue stands amid greenery on the far side of the Luxembourg Gardens, near Rue d`Assas, where Bartholdi lived during his Paris years. (The house has been replaced by an apartment complex; no plaque marks the site.)

A third statue is on the main floor of Musee National des Techniques, 292 Rue St. Martin. Upstairs are scale models of the Gaget & Gauthier workshops where the statue was created, Gustave Eiffel in charge of structural engineering. (The original Gaget & Gauthier atelier on Rue de Chazelles has long since been razed.)

Another Bartholdi statue with a Franco-American theme graces Place des Etats-Unis: Lafayette and Washington, hands clasped in friendship.

When Bartholdi created the Statue of Liberty, he worked in a classic style that goes back to Roman times. Other 19th-Century European statues show a toga-clad Liberty holding a torch, although by Bartholdi`s era, the French had adopted a far racier image evolved from the Revolution.

After all, the trio of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity formed the cornerstone of the republic. And in 1830 the painter Eugene Delacroix gave a special spin to La Liberte a la Francaise, to set a daring new style.

Delacroix`s celebrated tableau ``Liberty Leading the People`` (now in the Louvre) is based on a July 28, 1830, event.